It has been an incredibly busy and exciting term celebrating reading and writing at the Prep School. We kicked off the year in January with our fantastic Storytelling Week, filled with inspiring initiatives including Buddy Reading, illustrator and author workshops, and creative story-writing lessons that encouraged pupils to bring their imaginations to life. It was lovely to see some of our oldest pupils sharing books with the youngest. We were also delighted to strengthen our link with the Senior School, with some of our senior pupils visiting to take part in Buddy Reading sessions with our younger pupils, sharing stories and fostering a love of reading across the year groups.
In February, the excitement continued with the launch of our Book Fair. Every class had the opportunity to visit, browse the wonderful selection of books before choosing a special book to take home. This initiative raised lots of money which we can put back into replenishing our school library.
March began with a World Book Day celebration. Our whole school community came together for the spectacular Bry Prep Book Premiere, where pupils walked the red carpet in fantastic book-themed costumes shared from Nursery all the way to Year 8, as well as a brilliant turn out by the staff too! A school-wide story-writing competition also created a buzz of excitement, with several winners across the Prep. Watch this space as the published results will be shared later this week.
On World Book Day our older pupils in Years 7 and 8 enjoyed Create Fest, taking part in a range of engaging creative workshops to mark the occasion. Activities included collaborative storytelling across house teams using props to help build a plot, collaborative poetry writing using existing texts, and even creating book trailers inspired by much-loved childhood books.
We also saw the launch of a new Book Club for Years 7 and 8. Emma, Maya and Anoushka (A3/LVI) spoke to pupils in assembly about this new initiative which will begin after Easter. Pupils will meet fortnightly to discuss and share their thoughts on books, with the first title being Percy Jackson.
The celebrations have continued this week with Theatre Tree Productions delivering drama-based storytelling workshops across the school. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 explored the epic tale of Beowulf, Years 3 and 4 brought Theseus and the Minotaur to life, and Pre-Prep enjoyed the magical story of The Magic Paintbrush.
Next up, we are looking forward to our Poetry Recital at the end of next week to mark National Poetry Day. We can’t wait to see how our pupils bring poetry to life through their performances, exploring themes of Nature, Environment and Change.
What a fantastic term it has been for reading, creativity and storytelling at Bry Prep and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.
Mrs Leiper, Head of English, Bryanston Prep
